Claim: Diamond Pet Brands recall underway because its dog food caused canine deaths.
Example:[Collected via e-mail, 2006]
Diamond has recalled almost every feed in their product line due to aflatoxin poisoning. Any of their products with corn manufactured over a 4 month period are suspect. A friend of mine has lost 4 dogs already and at least two more from our area that we are aware of have also died. Diamond's website www.diamondpet.com lists one lot # in Maintenance but in
our area it is a different lot # in Premium food. I have no idea why that information isn't up there yet.
No dog that has shown symptoms has survived so far that we know of. Any dog that has gone off it's feed, has diarrhea or vomiting may be quite ill. A simple blood test to determine if liver enzymes are high is the
first step in diagnosis (results usually done right at the office or back very quickly if sent out). Early steps to try to save the dogs are first, stop feeding all commercial food. If the dog will eat, feed only rice and chicken or something similar. Vitamin supplements, esp E, may help. Get clotting profiles done. If your vet finds a problem, Sharon Center is the Liver specialist at Cornell. Karyn Bischoff is the Toxicolgy person. 5 dogs from our area were sent to Cornell yesterday to try to save them since they have not had any success locally. Hopefully with greater awareness, earlier detection and getting help early on, maybe they'll be able to save some.
Origins: A voluntary recall involving a number of Diamond Pet Foods products went into effect in January 2006 in 24 states (Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, and West Virginia). The recall was issued because dogs in 22 states had died as a result of ingesting this brand's product that had been contaminated with
Aflatoxin.
Cat food made by Diamond was also recalled, although there had been no reports of illness among felines linked to the food.
Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring toxic chemical by-product from the growth of the fungus Aspergillus flavus on corn and other crops. The fungus develops on crops during years with severe high temperature stress and drought. Mark Brinkmann, chief operations officer for Diamond Pet Foods, said of the contamination: "Unfortunately, it got through with a shipment of corn from one of our vendors."
This chemical is a potent toxin that attacks the liver. Symptoms of aflatoxin-caused liver damage can take weeks to appear, so owners of dogs that had eaten any of the contaminated products were encouraged to have their dogs tested. According to Karyn Bischoff, Diagnostic Toxicologist at the Animal Health Diagnostic Center of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University, "Aflatoxin binds to DNA and proteins within cells, and it may take some time for the damage to become apparent in a dog ingesting the toxin. However, 90% of the aflatoxin is eliminated in the urine within 12 hours."
Symptoms of aflatoxin poisoning in dogs include: loss of appetite; yellow whites of the eyes; yellow gums; yellow in the belly or areas where hair is very thin; severe, persistent vomiting combined with bloody diarrhea; discolored urine; fever. Dog owners were told if their pets had ingested the recalled products and were exhibiting these symptoms, to: get their animals to the veterinarian for treatment, being sure to explain they suspected aflatoxin poisoning and why, urge their veterinarians to run liver profiles on their animals, and ask their vets to contact Diamond Pet Foods toll free at 1-866-214-6945.
The recalled products were:
Diamond Premium Adult Dog Food
Diamond Hi-Energy Dog Food (Sporting Dog)
Diamond Maintenance Dog Food
Diamond Professional for Adult Dogs
Diamond Performance Dog Food
Diamond Puppy Food
Diamond Low Fat Dog Food
Diamond Maintenance Cat Food
Diamond Professional Cat Food
Country Value Puppy
Country Value Adult Dog Food
Country Value High Energy Dog Food
Country Value Adult Cat Food
Professional Chicken & Rice Adult Dog Food
Professional Puppy Food
Professional Large-Breed Puppy Food
Professional Reduced Fat Cat Food
Professional Adult Cat Food
If you have any of the pet products listed above on hand, immediately examine each package according to the following instructions, because only those printed with certain "best by" dates were contaminated with the toxin.
Recalled products can be identified by the Date Code and "Best By" dates listed on the back panel of the package. Recalled products will have a capital "G" (in reference to Gaston) in the 11th or 12th position of the date code (18 lb. to 55 lb. bags), and "Best By" dates between March 1, 2007 and June 10, 2007. The capital "G" will be in the 9th position on smaller 4 lb. to 8 lb. bags.
Diamond says products in question that bear "best by" dates outside the 1 March 2007 to 10 June 2007 window are free of the contaminant and are therefore safe to feed to your pets:
Diamond's quantitative analysis records substantiate that shipments were definitively clear of aflatoxin after December 10. As such, "Best By 11-June-07" date codes or later are not affected. Also, products with "Best By" dates prior to 28-Feb-07 are safe.
Diamond says the following products are not part of the recall:
All Premium Edge products
The complete Chicken Soup product lines
Canine Club
Kirkland Signature Puppy
Kirkland Signature Chicken & Rice Adult Dog
Kirkland Signature Lamb & Rice Adult Dog
Kirkland Signature Mature Dog
Kirkland Signature Maintenance Cat
Diamond Lamb and Rice Adult
Diamond Large Breed Adult 60+
Diamond Large Breed Puppy (Lamb & Rice Puppy)
Diamond Senior 8+
Diamond Kitten
Professional Lamb and Rice
Professional Reduced Fat Chicken & Rice Dog Food
Further information on the recall is available on the Diamond Pet Foods web site.
Barbara "diamond in the rough" Mikkelson
Additional information:
Aflatoxin Found In Diamond Pet Foods (Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine)
Aflatoxin Treatment Advice (Mendon Village Animal Hospital)
Last updated: 27 March 2007
The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/diamond.asp
Sources:
